Flatfoot 56 has announced today the details behind its fourth label-backed studio album. The band will release Toil on July 24 via Paper + Plastick Records. Worldwide distribution will come from Stomp Records in Canada, and People Like You Records in Europe.
The Chicago-based Celtic punk-rockers recorded Toil in Matt Allison’s Atlas Studios, working with producer Johnny Rioux of the Street Dogs in January and February. They emerged from recording sessions with 13 new songs for the album, and the tracklisting can be seen below. “[Johnny] knows how to challenge us and push us to the next level, which is what any band hopes for,” says frontman Tobin Bawinkel (vocals/guitar) of the band’s decision to work with Rioux again.
The choice of producer was a big one this time, as Flatfoot 56 wrote a record that Bawinkel says takes on a “much more mature, heartfelt tone.” Rioux produced 2010’s critically acclaimed Black Thorn as well, so the band felt comfortable working with him again. “We still love whipping the crowd into a frenzy and making everybody dance,” says Bawinkel, “but we wrote some tunes that people can relate to, and that they can sing along to.”
Bawinkel and the rest of Flatfoot 56 – his brothers, Justin (drums) and Kyle (bass), Eric McMahon (bagpipes/guitar) and Brandon Good (mandolin/guitar) – may have suggested that Toil would be less raucous than previous albums, but the band’s well-noted hardcore-tinged sound is still present. “Brother, Brother” starts fast and never slows down, a blisteringly paced barnburner of an opening track, carried by McMahon’s bagpipes, aggressive yells, dirty guitars and a huge chorus. Meanwhile, other tracks like future first single “I Believe It” showcase a more rootsy, folk-oriented side of the band. Gang vocals and pounding drums allow Flatfoot 56 to retain its signature sound.
Toil is the band’s follow-up to 2010’s wildly successful Black Thorn, which notched the band a spot on nine Billboard charts.
Toil will become available on July 24 via Paper + Plastick Records. The record will be available in vinyl, CD and digital formats.
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Flatfoot 56 - Toil
July 24, 2012
Paper + Plastick Records
1. Brother, Brother
2. The Rich, The Strong and The Poor
3. I Believe It
4. Take Hold Again
5. Toil
6. Live Or Die Trying
7. Work For Them
8. Terrorizing Truth
9. Strongman
10. 6'10"
11. This Time
12. Winter In Chicago
13. I'll Fly Away
More about Flatfot 56:
Playing a positive-natured brand of hardcore-tinged Celtic punk, Flatfoot 56 has been unleashing itself upon America and the rest of the world for over a decade now. Forming in 2000, the Chicago natives achieved nationwide attention with their first two label-backed records, 2006’s Knuckles Up and 2007’s Jungle of the Midwest Sea. These releases built on a heavy dose of previously established regional notoriety, helping the band gain steam early on.
While each album received its fair share of critical acclaim and fan reception, the quintet exploded onto a new level with 2010’s Black Thorn. Landing the band on a total of nine Billboard Charts, Flatfoot 56 proved it could consistently reach an expanding audience while playing a genre not often associated with widespread success.
Frontman Tobin Bawinkel (vocals/guitar) is now set to lead Flatfoot 56 on in their furious march forward. Armed with brothers Justin (drums) and Kyle (bass), along with Eric McMahon (bagpipes/guitar) and Brandon Good (mandolin/guitar), Flatfoot 56 will release its fourth label-backed studio album, Toil, on Paper + Plastick Records on July 24, 2012.
Like the band's last release, Toil was produced by the Street Dogs’ Johnny Rioux. “We decided that since the last experience with Johnny was so beneficial, we wanted to repeat it,” Bawinkel said. “We have been friends with Johnny for years our mutual respect fosters a good creative environment for putting together a record. He knows how to challenge us and push us the next level, which is what any band hopes for.”
The band recorded Toil in Matt Allison’s Chicago-based Atlas Studios in January and February. “We have always respected Paper + Plastick’s independent approach to putting out records because they always seem to promote the creative side of the album,” Bawinkel said of the band's choice of label. “As a band we all really value that creative vision, and Paper + Plastick is the place to be for that.”
While the record is set to be more rootsy and folk-oriented, it promises to pack the same relentless knock-down punch that fans have grown to expect from Flatfoot 56. More than a decade into its career, Flatfoot 56 isn’t slowing down, but maintaining a blistering pace of touring and musical output. “The next record's sound is taking on a much more mature, heartfelt tone,” Bawinkel said. “We’re writing these songs as life gets thrown at us, and as we all get a bit older and start to interpret life in different ways, we want to express ourselves to reflect the victories and defeats that we all go through. We still love whipping the crowd into a frenzy and making everybody dance but we want to write some tunes that people can relate to, and that they can sing along to.”
Toil will be released in 2012 by Paper + Plastick in the United States, Stomp Records in Canada, and People Like You Records in Europe.
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